Fun

Pablo wrapped in Jo Ann's scarf, sitting on the exam table on Tuesday at the CHLA Oncology Clinic.

Today has been the typical day of a five-year-old. With the exception of the three hours we spent driving to and from Santa Monica for Pablo's acupuncture with Dr Mao, Pablo's been on a focused mission of constant play. When we returned from San Mo, P and Polly went on a play date over at Mercer's house up the block. They came home, pulled out Pablo's gun collection and robbed places til there was nothing left to rob.

At one point, P found me to ask if I had any cash he could steal. His robber play uses any available currency: Monopoly money, plastic and metal Doubloons, US paper and coins, British paper and coins, Euros, and miniature cardboard money from the game of Life. He uses pillow cases for his robber bags, always noting that on cartoons, the robbers have dollar signs painted on their bags. He just wants you to know that.

After a delicious Mommy-cooked dinner of organic turkey legs, sweet potato and steamed Broccoli, Pablo and I set out on a dual mission of riding bikes and finding a dairy- and sugar-free dessert. We found a yummy vanilla faux-ice cream at the new bulk bin / natural foods store across from my office. The guy behind the counter was very sweet (haha) and offered to make Pablo a smoothie that fit all the requirements of his food plan. P opted for the fice cream instead, and loved it.

Our biking was a bit less fruitful. First, we were chasing daylight by the time we got to the park. Second, the bolt that connects Pablo's trail bike to my seat post was the wrong size. This is the kind of bike that connects to the seat post of an adult bike, and both the child and the parent pedal. We'd bought a new quick-release bolt a few months ago, in anticipation of our first ride back. It seemed easier than the thick, creaky (but safe) bolt we'd bought at Baller Hardware and used for the many rides. So, with a too-short bolt and 10 minutes of daylight remaining, we bolted across the street from where we parked in Griffith Park and hit the massive playground at Shane's Inspiration. Pablo has been playing there since he was tiny. It's been months since he saw Shane's playground, and he tore it up.

Looking back, we burned a lot of time at the office, where we had to pick up the bike that connects to Pablo's trail bike. Pablo calls it the 'connect bike,' which is precious and a better description than 'trail bike,' its actual, misleading, name. We haven't used the connect bike in a year. It was last Mother's Day that we rode it to and from Scott + Helen + Eli's house in Bronson Canyon. We had a ton of fun riding that day. We'd gotten Jo Ann a cool Trek cruiser for Mother's Day, so the whole fam rode to Bronson for the Henriksen family's annual brunch.

On the way home, we climbed through the Los Feliz Oaks neighborhood. It's shorter and safer than going through the streets of Hollywood. The only way to get up to the Oaks is to climb a giant hill called Spring Oak. I rode that road today, and I can confirm that it's a bear. It pitches up to 11% and stays there for a while. I've climbed that road a million times since last year, but today I vividly recalled the connect bike climb. At the time, I was riding my butt off every day, so pulling an extra 50 pound Pabload up that steep grade was a fun challenge. Today, with my back newly tweaked by a sneeze at breakfast, I was happy to get myself and my 15 pound carbon bike up that baby.

On the way home, Pablo made a proclamation from the back seat—something he does basically every day. 'I've played all day and all night, Papa. Now I'm tired. I want to go to sleep to so I can get up and start a new day.'

I have no idea how he formed a sentence like that. It's so...proper! Jo Ann, Grady, Polly and I have learned to savor Pablo's finer moments. They are so frequent that it's gotten hard to remember them all. Our boy is so full of passion and little-boy-ness. He makes it easy to just sit back and enjoy the ride.